Potato-peeling machine



B. A.-SHARP.

POTATO FEELING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 23, 1920.

Patented May 31, 1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

5-. A. SHARP. POTATO FEELING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED IULY 23,1920- 1,3}80,2f59, I Patented May 31, 1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

IN VEN TOR.

magwa 4 SHEETS SHEET 3- I" O NE Patented May 31, 1921.

Q 'INVENTOR. B. Z 6724 17 B. A. SHARP. POTATO FEELING MACHINE.APPLICAHON FILED JULY 23. I920.

Patented May 31, 1921.

4 SHEETSSHEYET 4.

- I N V EN TOR. 52 0 ATTORNEY.

UNITED sures PATENT omen.

BABNEY-A. sum, or nos mamas, earn-01min.

POTATO-FEELING EACHINE.

Toall'wlwmitmay concern. I

Be it known that I, BARNEY A. SHARP, a citizen of the United States,residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPotato-Peeling Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in potato peelingmachines and has for its primary object the provision of means forfeeding potatoes by and against a knife so that the rind or peelingthereof will be efiiciently and evenly removed therefrom.

Another object of this invention is the provision of means for rotatingthe potatoes as they pass the knife which perm ts the rind or peeling tobe removed in a circular manner and as accomplished when peelingpotatoes by hand, and which means is capable of accommodating potatoesof different sizes.

A further object of this invention is the provision of means separatingthe potatoes from the peelings or rinds as they are discharged from thedevice after the peeling process.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a potatopeeling machine of the above stated character, which shall be simple,durable, and efficient, and which may be manufactured and sold at acomparatively low cost.

' With these and other objects in view as will become more apparent asthe description proceeds, the invention consists in certain novelfeatures of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts as willbe hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

- For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be hadto the following description, and accompanying drawings, in which,Figure'l is a side elevation of a potato peeling machine constructed inaccordance with my invention,

Fig. 2 is a verti same,

Fig.

cal sectional view of the 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken onthe line 33 of Fig. 2,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 23, 1920. Serial No. 398,369:

Fig. is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 1s a plan view of the device with the top wall removed,

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view of one of the feeding members,

Fig, 7 is a perspective view of the top wall, illustrating the guard forthe gears,

F g. '8 s a detail view of the knife,

Fig. 9 is a detail view of the mounting for the knife.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates a casingwhich has its top and bottom walls 2 and 3 provided with aliningopenings 4 and 5 respectively. The top wall-2 about the opening 4 isprovided with an annular supporting flange 5 on which is mounted aninternal and external gear 6. The gear 6 is provided with an annulargroove that receives the flange 5 whereby said gear is rotatably mountedupon the top wall 2. A pinion 7 is journaled to the top wall 2 and inmesh with the external teeth of the gear 6 and also meshes with a drivegear 8 journaled to one of the side walls of the casing 1 and whichdrive gear is provided with a handle 9 so that the same can be manuallyrotated.

- Shafts 10 have their upper and lower ends journaled in the top andbottom walls 2 and 3 and have secured to their upper ends pinions 11which mesh with the internal teeth on the gear 6. The shafts 10 arearranged in circular formation and have scured thereon feeding elements12. The

feeding elements 12 are preferably constructed from sheet metal, whichis formed in strip formation and which is of substantially S-shape incross section. of material are bent in coil formation having one oftheir ends secured to the upper ends of the shafts 10 while their lowerends are secured to weights 13 slidably mounted .on the shafts 10.

The convolutions of the strips increase in size from each end of theshafts to a point intermediate their ends. The weights 13 The strips areprovided with rectangular openings 15 I to receive s uared portions 16on the lower portions of t e shafts 10 so that said weights 13 will becompelled to rotate with the shafts but will be free to slide upwardlyand downwardlv thereonfor the purpose of permit- .ting the feedingelements 12 to expand and contract to accommodate potatoes of. differentsizes. The potatoes are adapted to be fed into the opening 4 andreceived by the feeding elements 12 and are gripped thereby causing thepotatoes to rotate with said feeding' elements and owing to their.particular formation the potatoes are fed in a downwardly direction andeventually escape from the casing through the outlet openin 5.

it bracket 17 consisting of a pair of angle irons 18 is secured tooneside wall of the casing and is provided with alining openings 19 toreceive oppositely d1sposed projections 20 formed on a knife supportingarm 21. The ends ofthe extensions 20 are bent at right angles to formstops 22. adapted to engage the angle irons for limiting the movement ofthe knife 21 in one direction. The free end of the arm 21 is bent atright angles and supports a block 22 at a point between the feedingelements 12.

The arm 21 has secured thereto a knife blade 23 which is adapted toengage thepotatoes as they pass downwardly under the influence of thefeeding elements 12 and owing to the rotation of the potatoes, the kniferemoves the rind or peeling therefrom. Springs 24 are secured to theextensions and to the angle irons of the bracket 17' for the purpose ofurging the knife in the direction or against the potatoes. It is to benoted that the knife will remove the rind or peeling from the potatoesin a circular path owing to the rotation of the potato by the feedingelements as the same passes said knife.

Brackets 26 are secured to the bottom wall 3 of the casing 1 and havepivoted thereto a chute 27. The portion 28 of the chute 27 is muchlonger than the portion 29 so that the portion 28 normally dependsdownwardly while the portion 29 is disposed in a substantiallyhorizontal plane under the discharge or outlet opening 5 to receive thepeelings from the casing and the peelings will slide downwardly of theportion 28 and when a potato is discharged from the casing, it dropsupon the portion 29 and'owing to the we1ght thereof it forces saidportion 29 downwardly permitting the potato to slide off of the sameinto a suitable container not shown. A guard 30 is secured to theportion 29 of the chute 27 adj acent the pivotal point and is spacedfrom the bottom wall of said chute so that the peelings can readily passunder the same and slide off of the portion 28 but will prevent a potatofrom sliding or rolling in this direction and as a potato strikes theguard, it holds the same against further movement until the chute hastime to swing on its pivot to dispose the portion 29 downwardly 1n aninclined plane, whence the potato rolls of of the chute.

An auxiliary cover or, top wall 32 is seaeeoaso cured to the casing 1over the top wall 2 and is adapted to overlie .andprotect the gears 6and7. The auxiliary top wall 32 is provided with an opening 33 to ermit thepotato to be fed into the casing. 11 annular collar or guard 34 isformed on the bottom face of the auxiliary top wall 32 and about theopening 33 and depends downwardly into the opening 4 of the to wall 2 sothat the potatoes are prevented rom coming in contact with the pinions11 and gear 6 as thtiy pass intothe casing.

n Fig. 1 I have shown my invention secured to a table 2 by means of abracket 3' to which straps 4 are hinged and are in turn secured to thecasing so that said casing may be swung to underlie the table'and besupported thereunder by a fastener 5. When desiring to use the device,the same is moved to depend downwardly. from the table and a pair ofbraces 6 having notches in each end engage pins on the casing 1 and abracket 7 secured to the table, thereby firmly holding the device duringthe operation of the device. The, braces are removed and placed on thebrackets 3 and 7 'I claim is I 1. A potato peeling machine comprising acasing having inlet and outlet ports, potato feeding elements journaledin said casing between'the ports and adapted to impart rotation to apotato durin its passage from one port'to the other, an a knife forremoving the peelings from the potatoes as they are fed in the directionof the outlet port.

2. A potato peeling machine comprising a casing having inlet and outletports, circularly arranged feeding elements journaled in said casingbetweenthe inlet and outlet ports, means for rotating said feedingelements, and a knife adapted to remove the eeling from the potatoes asthey are fed 1n the direction of the outlet port.

3. A potato peeling machine comprising a casing having inlet and outletports, vertically disposed and circularly arranged feeding elementsjournaled in said casmg between the inlet and outlet ports, means forrotating said feeding elements, and a knife adapted to remove thepeeling from a potato as it is fed in the direction of the outletA portby the feeding elements.

a casing having inlet and outlet ports, flexi potato peeling machinecomprisin let ble feeding elements iournaled in said eas ing between theinlet and outlet ports and adapted to feed a potato in the direction ofthe outlet port, and a knife ada ted to engage the potato and remove t epeeling therefrom.

5. A potato peeling machine comprising a casing havin inlet and outletports, vertically dispo flexible and circularly arranged feedingelements journaled in said casing between the inlet and outlet ports andadapted to feed a potato from .the in- 7 port to the outlet ort with arotary motlon, means for rotating the feeding elements, and a knife forremoving the peelings from the potatoes.

6. A potato peeling machine comprising a casing having inlet and outletports, shafts journaledin said casing, means forrotatin said shafts,flexible elements carried by said shafts and adapted to bight into apotato for rotating and feeding the same in the direction of the outletport, and a knife for removing the peelings from the potatoes.

7. A potato peeling machine comprising a casing having inlet and outletports, shafts journaled in said casing, flexible elements secured to theupper ends of said shafts and coiled about said shafts and having theirlower ends slidably secured to said shafts, means rotating said shafts,and a knife associated with the feeding elements.

8. A potato peeling machine comprising a casing having inlet and outletports, shafts journaled in said casing, means for rotating said shafts,flexible elements secured to the upper ends of the shafts and coiledabout said shafts, weights slidabl'y secured to the lower ends. of theshafts and adapted to rotate with said shafts and secured to the lowerend of the flexible elements, and a knife associated with the flexibleelements. 7

9. A potato peeling machine comprising a casing having inlet and outletports, shafts journaled in said casing, flexible elements having theirupper ends secured to the upper ends of the shafts and coiled about saidshaft and slidably secured to the lower ends of said shafts, saidflexible elements being of substantiallyfi-shape in cross section toform gripping edges and the convolutions of said flexible elementsincreasing from each end in the direction of a point intermediate theends of the shafts, and a knife associated with the flexible elements.

10. A tato peeling machine comprising a casing aving inlet and outletports, shafts journaled in said casing, feeding elements carried by saidshafts, a knife associated with the feeding elements, internal andexternal gears rotatably mounted in said casing, pinions secured to theupper ends of the shafts and in mesh with the internal teeth of saidgears, a pinion j ournaled to said casin and meshing with the externalteeth of sald gear, and a drive gear journaled to said casing androtating with the second named pinion.

11. A otato peeling machine comprising a casing aving inlet and outletports, feedin elements journaled in said casing, a kmfe associated withthe feeding elements, a series of gears carried by said casing forrotating said feeding elements, an auxiliary cover secured to the casingand having an opening, a guard surrounding said opening and extendinginto the inlet opening of the casing.

12. A potato peeling machine comprising a casing having inlet and outletopenings, feeding elements journaled in said casing,

brackets secured to said casing, an arm p1v with the feeding elements.

13. A potato peeling machine comprising a casing having inlet and outletopenings, feeding elements journaled in said casing, means rotating saidfeeding elements, a knife associated with the feeding elements, abracket carried by said casing, a chute pivoted to said bracket andlocated under the outlet opening and having a comparatlvely long portionand a comparatively short portlon, said long portion adapted to normallydepend downwardly and the comparatively short portion normallymaintaining a substantially horizontal position under the outlet openingto receive the potato peelings therefrom, and a guard carried by thecomparatively short portion adjacent the pivotal point of the chute.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

BARNEY 'A. SHARP.

Witnesses:

ERNEST WAMSTER, Jesse M. JENKINS.

